Grow Your Business Exhibition

White Rhino, The Initial Concepts

In this post we shared the winner of the Grow Your Business branding competition's brief with you. Now here are the concepts. You can download the document in full if you like, and here are the concepts in brief.

CONCEPT ONE
A bold, inspiring font and colour choices. We understand that your business works hard to create the perfect event with as little ‘fuss’ as possible for your client, so with this in mind we’ve created a fuss-free logo option but with plenty of character. We’ve also tried out some options with a rhinosaurus’ footprint; subtle but quirky.

CONCEPT TWO

This logo has a more relaxed feel to it and paired with more calming colours makes for a lovely, well balanced finish. The illustration style is fresh and quirky, adding a flash of creativity and passion to the overall style.

CONCEPT THREE

Again, the muted blues and greys feel really appropriate and welcoming, and we’ve tried an alernative illustration style that carries a little more depth and realism to it. There’s something about the rhino being on top of the letters that gives a sense of control and stability.

If your business would benefit from a branding makeover why not join us for a free branding consultation? During that hour you'll gain specific feedback on your brand: what's working and what's not. You'll also see the impact that design has on other businesses like yours, and you'll leave with a clear vision for where your brand needs to be heading.

To book, simply call us on 01483 401 818 or email guildford@printing.com

Download 852738.pdf

Winner of the Sage & Acuity Prize Draw

Congratulations to Andrew Mainwaring from The Addinstown Group, who is the lucky winner of the Sage & Acuity prize draw who has won the brand new PC laptop with Sage Act! Software.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter the prize draw.

Grow Your Business by Understanding Your Customer: Free Presentation to Download

You'll find Anne Crotty of Pensare's presentation: Grow Your Business by Understanding Your Customer below.

Gain insights into how to use market research to aid your business: the questions to ask and what to do with the data you glean.

Download grow_exhibition_pres_v1.ppt

Sell It Like It Is: Presentation available to download for free

Jonathan Steffen of The Corporate Story has very kindly agreed to share his presentation on creating powerful PR for your business. You can find it available to download for free below. You'll find Jonathan's top tips for creating a story for your business which not only sends out the right signals, but also gets past the editors. Enjoy!Download sell_it_like_it_is.ppt

How to create websites that make you money: Free Presentation to Download

Bruce Hazleton of the Marvellous Media Company's popular seminar is available to download for free here.

Discover the key steps to creating a website that will start earning your business money.Download grow_your_business.pdf

Branding For Your Business: Free Workbook for You to Download

Lots of you have been asking for notes from some of the free seminars from last Wednesday's events. So over the next few days I will be posting workbooks and notes/ presentations from the speakers.

Today I've attached my own seminar workbook - Branding for Your Business. Use this to enable you to really get the most out of your business branding and use it to help your business grow.

You can find out more about Guildford printing.com by visiting our website www.guildfordprinting.com.
Download new_branding_workbook.pdf

Reputation: What's That? Free download from Tessa Hood

"I wish I'd known half of this stuff when I started out in business 30 years ago" was one of the comments an inspired convert made to me on her way out of Tessa Hood's seminar. Tessa, of Changing Gear ran a very lively and popular seminar on the importance of reputation and personal branding. Find out more in this free article.

Download when_youve_finished_changing_you_are_finished.doc

The winner of Guildford printing.com's Branding Makeover: Part One, The Brief

Hundreds of you entered Guildford printing.com's competition at the Grow Your Business event on 30th April to win a branding makeover worth over £1000. There could only be one winner, and that winner was Timmon Whitehead of Landmark Transitions.

Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing the progress of Timmon's branding makeover with you. And we'll look forward to your feedback on the finished results!

Landmark Transitions provide "Landmark occasions for landmark events" and as Timmon himself commented, this makeover couldn't have come at a better time. The company was looking to change direction from private events to more corporate events providing a total event solution for events organisers in house.

To say that the current branding was not doing Timmon's business justice is probably an understatement. Poorly printed cards, a 'standard' blue signature colour and a name which says very little about the company is just the start of it. But most importantly, the current image belies Timmon's experience and refined character. This card might suit a builder or a structural engineer, but a well-spoken events organiser comfortable mixing with Surrey's elite? If I had to match a card to the person I never would have matched this up with Timmon, and that can cause problems with your brand identity.

Interestingly, for this venture Timmon had already decided to change the name of his corporate business to White Rhino. This was designed to reflect the creativity and flair of his events as well as being a name which meant something to Timmon on a more personal level.

Timmon's brief is that we should create a logo which reflects the company's professional attitude to organising events. White Rhino make it easy for corporate events departments to organise show-stopping events through their network of contacts and experience. The idea is that White Rhino do the legwork and help the events department put on a fantastic show. Creativity, flair, professionalism and simplicity are all elements which Timmon would like his new corporate identity to reflect. No pressure then!

If you think your business might be in need of a branding makeover, why not contact the team at Guildford printing.com and book a free branding consultation? During your hour long consultation you'll gain specific feedback on your business brand: what's working and what's not. You'll gain an insight into the power a successful brand can have on businesses just like yours, and you'll leave with a clear idea of the steps you need to take to make your brand work for your business. To book your free consultation simply call 01483 401 818 or email guildford@printing.com

Not using the back of your business card? You're missing a trick!

Do you use the back of your business card? And I don't mean for writing notes on! I mean to inspire, to sell or to explain; to create impact, add intrigue or simply to appeal to your target audience.

So many businesses miss out on this opportunity, and yet it doesn't actually cost very much more. For about £35 you can massively increase the impact of your business cards, just by putting something on the back. That something might be a photograph, block colour like in the example, a piece from your logo or an illustration. It might be a quote, a question to get people thinking or simple your strapline or website. Either way, it's another opportunity to capture peoples attention and imagination. It's another opportunity to sell your business. And it certainly creates impact.

In fact, why wouldn't you use the back of your card? I was talking to someone yesterday who protested that having information on both sides was annoying. That he stored his cards in a plastic file and having to take them out to retrieve information was frustrating. I agree. I'm not suggesting that you put important information on the front and back because that does get annoying. What I'm suggesting is that you use the back to sell yourself.

Secondly he commented that block colour on the back of a card was annoying. But why? "Because I often like to write on the back of cards.". Now people say this a lot. Think about it, when was the last time you wrote on the back of your card before you handed it to someone? Thought not. People usually want to write on the back of your business card because they want to sell you something. Why would you miss out on creating impact with your business card just so that someone can sell you something?

So go on, be brave, use both sides of your business cards and make yourself stand out from the crowd.

Thank You and What did You Think?

A huge, huge, Thank You to the hundreds of you that came to the Spectrum yesterday for our first ever Grow Your Business event. The feedback we received from both the visitors and exhibitors was overwhelmingly positive.

You told us that the speakers were very inspirational and I know that many of you have walked away with a head full of ideas and action plans to put into practice today. There also were some fantastic giveaways from some of our exhibitors and we'll be updating you on who the lucky winners were very soon.

We're aware that there were some issues with parking, and also that signage could be improved, and we're working on that for next year. Apologies to those of you who were unable to find spaces - we will be talking to the council to find alternatives for next year's event. We'll also be processing the thousands (literally) of feedback forms we received from the seminars and taking on board all your comments, both positive and constructive.

Lots of you have asked whether there will be another event next year. And based on initial feedback the answer is a resounding yes! I know Paul is taking a well deserved break from the show for a week or two but we will announce next year's date very soon, so watch this space!

Here are just a couple of comments I've had in my inbox this morning:

"I wanted to let you know how much myself and my colleague Sharon Humphries enjoyed the Grow Guildford event yesterday. I attended three of the "Start your Business" stream seminars, run by Sarah Orchard, yourself and Karen Skidmore, and they were all excellent. I have come away with lots of easy-to-apply actions to improve the organisation I work for." Lindsay Blackburn, Cool 2 Care

"What a fantastic event you put on today, thank you.

All the seminars I attended were great (and I attended quite a few!). I found Penny Power, Lyndon Hughes & Elizabeth Cairns all very interesting and inspiring. It was also really wonderful to get a feel for the business community in Guildford and to feel that their IS a community. I also liked the message I heard a number of times that being a business woman who is trying to juggle looking after children and run a business from home that I am not alone, that it can be done and that I don't have to pretend to be something else. So thank you." Emma Gair, Wade Gair

"I just wanted to drop you a small line to thank you for organising the Exhibition yesterday. It was a wonderful opportunity for us as small businesses to showcase our wonderful product to a wider audience and for that I thank you." STEPHANIE HALL – Sales Manager, Barnett Hill

"I thought I would just say what a fantastic exhibition! I have managed to get over 20 really really good web design / SEO leads out of the day, so that should really come good in the next few weeks." PETER RICHMAN, Plug and Play Design

But how about you? Do share your experiences with us.